'Star Trek' Star Benedict Cumberbatch On Being Gay In Hollywood: Says It Is Still A 'Huge Obstacle'

Star Trek star Benedict Cumberbatch is used to fighting villains on screen, but it's the bad guys off screen he's trying to combat.The actor, who plays gay mathematician Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, talked to Out Magazine about the uphill battle gay actors face in Hollywood, saying it's a "huge obstacle," and how he would fight the anti-gay radicals.

"People are being beheaded in countries right now because of their beliefs or sexual orientations. It's terrifying. It's medieval — a beheading!" he told the mag. "I'd take up arms against someone who was telling me I had to believe in what they believed or they would kill me. I would fight them. I would fight them to the death ... You have to have a point where you go, 'Well, religious fundamentalism is wrong.'"

As far as Hollywood goes, the Sherlock actor believes there's still a major stigma against being a homosexual lead in a blockbuster film.

"I think if you're going to sell yourself as a leading man in Hollywood to say 'I'm gay,' sadly, is still a huge obstacle," he said. "We all know actors who are [gay] who don't want to talk about it or bring it up, or who deny it. I don't really know what they do to deal with it."

"Human rights movements and sexual and gay rights movements have made huge social progress in the last 40 years, without a doubt, but there's a lot more work to be done," he persisted.

One "out" actor, Luke Evans, is trying to break through with his current starring role in Dracula Untold, but chooses not to shout his sexuality from the rooftops.

"It's good for people to look at me and think this guy is doing his thing and enjoying what he's doing and successful at it and living his life," he told Women's Wear Daily. "And that's what I'm doing and I'm very happy."

Do you agree with Benedict that there's a stigma for gay actors in Hollywood? Comment below!